Currently, various products are tracked through the use of barcodes which are identification labels having a series of different width vertical stripes, which are capable of being scanned using hand scanners to provide computer readable numerical codes. Generally, the scanner must be within a specific close distance and in a specific relationship to the barcodes to be able to read them. Barcodes are used on products as diverse as electronic equipment, clothing, and produce.
As technology evolved, small electronic circuits have been developed that are capable of sending and receiving radio signals, which may be used to identify different products. These circuits are called RFID circuits, or radio frequency identification circuits.
In one application, barcode labels (and labels with unique part numbers) are applied to circuit boards during the manufacturing process for the purpose of tracking inventory and configuration control. Such labels are mostly “preprinted” and currently applied manually or by dedicated label applicator machines. Label sizes are getting smaller and barcodes are becoming obsolete. There has been a desire to replace barcodes with RFID circuits and some experimentation has been carried out in this area.
Currently, labels with embedded RFID circuits that can be “written” to with unique ID information are starting to be introduced. RFID printers (that include readers/writers) are becoming available that allow a customer to print/read/write an RFID label and apply the printed RFID label manually or “off-line” to a product. This approach is acceptable in low production environments where quality/consistency requirements are not high.
Currently also, there are manufacturing environments where high production and quality/consistency requirements are very high. In these environments, assemblies (especially, electronic printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies) must be built in huge quantities and many different configurations.
In addition to the many different configurations, high quality oriented processes require unique hardware and software tracking methods/mechanisms for each and every assembly for the purpose of the configuration control and inventory tracking. A unique ID number is encoded in a barcode and printed on a label that needs to be affixed to the assembly.
With the huge number of electronic and other assemblies produced, there is a need to simplify this process, which until now has been essentially a manual process.
One approach has been to integrate mechanized manual equipment into a distinct assembly cell (as a part of the automated production line) with a dedicated function: print and apply the printed/written labels (using label applicator(s)).
Unfortunately, this approach consumes valuable production floor space.
Also, from uptime and reliability points of view, if the dedicated assembly cell goes down, it takes down the whole assembly line. A manufacturer cannot easily “replace” the whole assembly cell within minutes and replacement could result in substantial and expensive downtime.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.